Carcass Cornucopia

Agnes Arellano, 1987 Cold-cast marble, rice grains, crushed marble, wood (Part of her collection, Myths of Creation and Destruction Part I)
(Photo from http://www.agnessarellano.com)

Nathalie Dagmang 2010-24702 BFA Sculpture

Final Assignment

Carcass Cornucopia is Agnes Arellanos portrayal of the Indo-Aryan myth of how the Universe is born after the explosion of the first bovine. This work embodies the paradox of how creation follows destruction, how ones death is the birth of another, and how explosions result to materialization. Agness Arellanos works usually show a feminist slant as she portrays women as a key to the creation of things. For this sculpture, an image of a woman was used to personify the role of the bovine in the birth of the universe, echoing the womans role as the mother/conceiver. As the body of the bovine-woman is sacrificed and ripped apart, a bulul materializes along with eggs and grains that symbolize the recreation and sustenance of life. This kind of animal, or even human, sacrifice was practiced throughout time and across cultures. As a Filipina, my role in the society is somehow dictated by my sexual category. Women, in the context of the Philippine society where family is of social importance, are expected to develop characteristics that are necessary for conceiving, nurturing, and upbringing children. The traditional expectations of a mother are to stay at home, take care of the family and guide the children in their social development. As I develop as an individual and as a part of the Philippine society, I have come to acknowledge these social and familial roles that have been bestowed upon Filipinas. Through time, I have learned to accept the necessity of my destruction as a means of creating and nurturing, not just of children, but of things that are important for Filipinos and Filipnas in general. And this role is not just the womens own, but also of all members of the society. The cycle of life, as shown in this sculpture, is an important concept to be learned by every individual. A persons existence does not end in living; our lives end and are reborn with our destruction. Our destruction is not a one-time event, it happens at many points in our life. Our destructions happen when we suffer, deteriorate and make sacrifices. The process of self-destruction is a selfless means of offering life to another, and it is this process that makes the life of an individual essential in the development of a society. For a long time, I have been living for myself, and expecting others to live for me. I used to eat and sleep for my own health, play for my own recreation, and study for my own future success; my life happened in mindless routine.

Self-isolation and apathy made me a selfish person as I refused to engage and respond to others. But as I strive to become a useful member of the society, I tried to become more informed and involved with the people around me. I learned that as a woman, my role is not just that of a mother and a wife, but as an individual one with all the women, opposing the discriminating standards of this patriarchal society. My role as a student is not just to study for high grades and credentials, but to immerse in the lives of many other students, to know their sentiments and to help them voice these out. My role as a Filipino is not just to aim for success for personal gains, but to unite with them and serve them. And I came to realized that I cannot fulfill all these roles if I continue to secure myself from the world and without subjecting myself to my own destruction. The necessity of self-sacrifice in service of others is one of the most crucial ideas that are seemed to be ignored by many. Most people dont realize that it is through sacrifice that they had gained their basic rights: parents work to be able to buy food for their children, teachers exhaust themselves in their effort to make their students understand the lesson, student leaders work for free to be able to represent their fellow students, and activists rally under the heat to be able to voice out the people unheard. The myth behind Carcass Cornucopia, other myths of creation and destruction, and the real life stories of each individual that we meet in the course of our lives show us the importance of ones death for the benefit of others, and some of these stories even portray the role of literal death/human sacrifice. As I grow older and hear more of the stories of the many other Filipinos around me, I have learned to grasp this idea and how self-sacrifice is important to be able to contribute to the Philippine society.